Pulverizing machine



Oct. 15, 1929. WAGNER 1,731,956

PULVERI Z ING MACHINE Filed March 2, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

WITNESSES INVENTOR Oct. 15, 1929. WAGNER 1,731,956

PULVERI Z ING MACHINE Filed March 2. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wnmsasnmvzw-ron rmm WW 6 mv-m M... 4% A Wit held by the actor which shall bePatented Oct. 15, 1929 UNITED STATES PULVERIZING MACHINE Applicationfiled March 2, 1927. Serial No. 172,024.

This invention relates to pulverizing machines, more particularly toapparatus for d pulverizing earth or the like.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide apparatus of simpleand durable mechanical construction comprising a minimum number of partswhich shall be especially adapted for pulverizing earth to prepare itfor potting plants or the like.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a machine for pulverizingearth which eign substances contained in the earth without injury to themachine elements.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide apparatus of the abovedesignated charadjustable for the purpose of varying the fineness of thepulverized material.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a pulverizingmachine for the purpose set forth which shall be mounted on a portablecarriage and which is further adapted to support a screen that iscooperatively engaged with the drive mechanism to be agitated orvibrated by the rotation of said mechanism.

Machines adapted for pulverizing earth are subjected to severe serviceconditions and apparatus for this purpose which has been heretoforeproposed was frequently broken by the impact of the movable pulverizingelement with stone and other hard substances contained in the materialas it is fed to the machine.

lln accordance with the present invention this difliculty is overcome bymeans inherent in the construction of the apparatus whereby thepulverizing element is adapted to become temporarily displaced to permitthe passing of stone or rock therebetween. For this purpose the drum orpulverizing memher is rotatably mounted on a pivoted support to permitthe drum to normally assume an off-center position in which position itis action of gravity, or its own weight. When stone or other hardsubstances pass between the drum and its cooperating casing the formeris free to raise on its support against the resistance of its b ownweight to permit the stone to pass unerneath and the drum willimmediately as sume its normal position with respect to the casing.

Other features which like reference characters designate and in whichFig. 1 is a view in perspective of a pulverizing machine embodyin g theprinciples of this invention Fig. 2 alongitudinal sectional view of thehopper casing and pulverizing drum; Fig. 3 a section taken along theline IH-HL Fig. 2,- Fig. 4 a View in perspective of the pulverizingdrum, and a sectional view of a modified form of the machine shown inReferring to the figures of the drawings, the structure thereinillustrated comprises a casing 1 having a curved bottom 2 and a lip 3 atwhich point the material passing through the pulverizer is ejected;Supported on the casing 1 is a hopper 4; to which is secured a guard 5that is curved to constitute or form an exit opening with the lip 3 ofthe casing member. he casing l is secured by flanges 6 to a supportingframe 7 that is journaled on a pair of wheel axles 8 to render thedevice portable which is desirable as the apparatus is especially in hothouses and conservatories.

Journaled on support 7 is a counter-shaft pair of sprocket wheels 10 and11 support 7. The other gear wheel 11 is similarly connected by a chainto a driven shaft 15 that is journaled in a pair of levers 16 which areadapted for pivotal movement about the axis of counterdrum generallydesto be rotatable with intended for use position of pulverizing drum 18with respect to the wall of the casing member.

The casing 1 is provided with projections or ribs 20, Flgs. 2 and 3,which are preferably integrally cast with the casing member but whichmay be provided therein in any suitable manner; and pulverizing drum 18is designed to coo erate with projections 20 of the casing. e drumcomprises a hub member 21 of hexagonal shape upon which is mounted aplurality of blades 22 with their faces tangentially disposed to theirplane of rotation. The extended edges of the blades 22 are provided withslots 23 corresponding to the projections 20 of the casing member 1 andadapted to interact therewith. Thus alternately positioned cooperatingteeth are provided on the blades 22 and the casing, the teeth on thelatter bein in the form of ribs.

As previously stated t 1e machine is adapted to eject stone by virtue ofthe manner of mounting the drum member 18. It has however been foundnecessary to provide the interacting tongue and groove 20 and 23 of thecasing member and pulverizing wheel for the purpose of engaging andejecting flat stone which would otherwise become lodged at the bottom ofthe casing 1 which would neces sitate stopping the machine occasionallyto lift the drum for the purpose of removing the fiat stone. In theconstruction shown it is impossible for stones of any form to becomelodged in the machine since they must of necessity be engaged by drum 18which will pass them toward the front of the machine where theyareejected through the opening provided between'the lower lip 3 of thecasing and the upper guard 5.

As shown in Fig. 1 the casing 1 and guard 5 are cut out to form anarcuate shaped slot 25 of such dimensions as will provide clearance forthe drum shaft 15 which as previously explained is adapted for angularmovement by virtue of its pivotal mounting on the counter-shaft 9. Apair of arms 26 are secured to or formed integrally with levers 16 andare joined by a handle member 27 by means of which drum shaft 15 andpulverizin drum 18 carried thereby are bodily lifted within the limitsof slotted opening 25 to remove the pulverizing drum out of enagementwith casing member 1, if desired. The slotted opening 25 will furtherpermit free angular movement of the pulverizing drum 18 on thecounter-shaft 9.

A screen member 28 is adapted to be secured by a frame construction 29having braces 30 which extend to supporting frame 7 to which they aredetachably secured. The frame support 29 of the screen is also securedto the top of frame 7 to constitute a rigid support for the screen 28.The screen is mounted on frame 29 by means of pins 31 which are fastenedto frame 29 and project through openings 32 provided in screen 28.

The screen by virtue of its engagement with pins 31 is adapted tofulcrum about a transverse center line passing through pins 31 andprovisions are made to produce a constant vibration of the screen aboutits fulcrum axis to prevent the pulverized materialpassing out of themachine from packing or accumulating on the screen member.

The vibration of the screen is produced in the following manner: Atransverse strap 33 is secured to the screen and provided withlongitudinal arms 34. Arms 34 project beyond the end of the screenunderneath the casing of the machine element as is more clearly shown inFig. 2. The arms 34 are provided with curved ends 35 which are adaptedto rest on the counter-shaft 9. A rod 36 is secured to rotate with thecountershaft 9 to constitute an obstruction or cam surface for strikingthe ends 35 of the screen arms 34 to produce an intermittent oscillatingmovement of the screen v which provides a constant vibration. The cameffect of the rod 36 may obviously be produced by utilizing arectangular shaped body portion for the counter-shaft 9 intermediate itssupporting journals or by constituting the counter-shaft a cam shaft ofany suitable shape to produce vibration at the engaging end of thescreen rod. As shown in Fig. 1, the operating switch or control for themotor 13 may be secured to the supporting frame 7 of the machine asillustrated, a switch box 38 being there shown as secured to the rear ofthe machine.

The operation of this device is briefly as follows: The pulverizingmachine bein of portable construction is moved to the p ace where theearth to be pulverized is located. The material is placed in hopper 4and motor 13 is energized to produce rotation of pulverizing drum 18.Drum 18 is adjusted to suitable position relative to the casing member 1by means of the stops 19 depending upon the degree of fineness ofmaterial it is desired to roduce. The clods of earth dropping throughthe hopper 4 are engaged by the paddles 22 of the pulverizing drum andforced downwardly against the casing towards the rear of the machinewhere it is ejected on the screen 28. The screen as previously explainedis constantly vibrating to prevent the pulverized material from packingand permit its dropping through the screen. Stones and the like roll offthe screen to a position where they can not intermingle with thepulverized material underneath the screen.

If a large stone should be embedded in the clod of earth placed in thehopper it will, upon strikingthe pulverizing drum l8,fall be tween thepaddles 22 and the casing 1 whereby it is constituted a wedge fordisplacing the drum 18 on its pivot bearings which are its arms 16supported on the counter-shaft 9. As previously explained the drum 18 isheld in its operative position by action of gravity,

that is by its own weight acting against the stops 19. The drum istherefore freely displaced by stones which are forced out by rotation ofthe drum, but will immediately retain its normal position against thestop 19 when the stone has been ejected from the machine. This provisionof replacing the pulverizing drum bodily prevents injury to the machine,which would be otherwise subjected to a sudden jar or impact.

Tn the modification shown in Fig. 5 a drum it) provided with blades 41is journaled on a shaft 42 to cooperate with the drum and blades 21 and22', respectively, which correspond with and are equivalent to the likeelements shown in *igs. 1 and 2. The blades at of drum 40 interact withblades 22 of drum 21 to engage and break up clods of earth therebetween.The blades 41 further cooperate with a casing 44 which is continuouswith the casing around the drum 21'. The drum 40 may be rotated by themeshing of the blades 41 with blades 22 or it may be positively drivenby a chain 43 from the drum shaft 15. The function of the double drumtype pulverizer is substantially the same as that of the single drumtype as set forth above. However, the double drum pulverizer has greatercapacity for handling the material placed in the hopper 4. The doubledrum further permits of reducing the material acted upon to a finersubstance on account of the intimate engagement of the blades and thegreater contact afi'orded by the two drums in cooperating with thecasing. 7

It will be evident from the foregoing description of this invention thatearth pulverizing machines made in accordance therewith provide a simpleand efficient means for pulverizing earth in relatively large quantitiesand in an inexpensive manner. It will be further obvious that the simpleconstruction of the machine and the safeguard against breakage of themore delicate parts such as the drive mechanism, by making thepulverizing drum freely displaceable, overcomes the difficultiesencountered in prior art devices which frequently led to breakage andresulted in interruptions in their operations.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein described andset forth, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications may be made in the details of construction and in thearrangement of the several cooperating parts without departing from theprinciples herein set forth.

ll claim 1. A portable pulverizing machine comprising the combinationwith a frame provided with wheels, a casing mounted thereon,

a counter-shaft journalled in said frame, a motor mounted on said framefor rotating said counter-shaft, levers pivotally mounted on said shaft,a drum-s11 porting shaft journalled in said levers, an meansassocimounted for rotation on ated with said shaft for operating thedrumsupporting shaft, of a pulverizing drum said drum shaft with below aplane passed levers and maintained in that position only by its weight,and a handle conneoted to said drum sh aft, said drum comprisingpolygonal shaped hubs, pulverizing plates mounted on the faces of saidhubs, each plate overlapping and extending beyond the inner edge of thenext succeeding plate, the overlapping angle being less than a rightangle, the extended edges of said plates being shaped to form teethadapted to cooperatively engage channels in said casing, said drum beingautomatically displaceable to pass nonpulverizable material and manuallydisplaceable by means of said handle.

2. A portable pulverizing machine comprising the combination with aframe provided with wheels, a casing mounted thereon, a counter-shaftjournalled in said frame, a motor mounted on said frame for rotatingsaid counter-shaft, levers pivotally mounted on said shaft, adrum-supporting shaft journalled in said levers, and means associatedwith said shaft for operating the drum-sup porting shaft, of g drummounted for rotation on said drum shaft with its center of gravity belowa plane passed through said levers and maintained in that position onlyby its weight, and a handle disposed between arms connected to oppositeends of said drum shaft, said drum comprising hexagonal hubs, apulverizing plate mounted on each of the faces of said hubs, each plateoverlapping and extending beyond the inner edge of the next succeedingplate and forming therewith an outer overlap angle of approximately 60",the extended edges of said plates being shaped to form teeth cooperasaidcasing whereportions of material to be pulverized, said drum beingautomatically displaceable upon contact with a non-pulverizablematerial, and manually displaceable by means of said handle.

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

' MICHAEL WAGNER.

its center of gravity through said

